(… as I down my breakfast before getting to the reed situation …) Watching bassoonist Stephen Paulson and English hornist Julie Ann Giacobassi take apart that famous opening almost measure by measure is a true thrill. Say! What’s this? You know you wanna know! San Francisco Symphony has a new thing goin’ on. It’s called [...]
Archive of entries posted on October 2006
No Kidding!
BOO! hoo … Tis a scary and sad day … until those EH reeds get made! Reading over at The Reedery
I Be Home, I Be Tired
But I be slightly hyper as well … typical after a performance. Even when it’s something as light as musical theatre. (Yes, I take musical theatre as seriously as anything. I feel that to think of one form of music as unimportant is simply a very bad idea, as it can lead to sloppy playing. [...]
Home For A Sec (And Pizza)
I’m home. But not for long. I had a rehearsal this afternoon, but rather than go out to dinner downtown I came home. I can at least see Jameson and Dan for a brief moment, and I got some tasty pizza out of it too. (Thanks, Dan!) Now it’s back to work. I wish I [...]
Home Early!
It’s 11:20 PM and I’m already home! Nice, eh? Our rehearsal that was scheduled from 6:30 to 11:30 got out early. I’m so relieved. This was a very long day, due to some family stuff, then symphony, and then the rehearsal. And of course it feels as if it’s an hour later than it is [...]
MQOD
Personally, I think the audience should applaud for the oboist who gives the ‘A’ rather than the concertmaster, who only walks out without falling off the stage! -Fredric Cohen (the just retired oboist of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra) I’m with him. Excellent idea! You can read the entire article here. —–
Home
Getting on stage tends to wake a person up just fine. I enjoyed the concert, and once again my friend and colleague, Pam Hakl, did a beautiful job! :-) Now I set my clock back an hour. I love that extra hour! Tomorrow it’s a 2:30 performance and then I have a five hour rehearsal [...]
Here Goes
It’s 6:15. I will leave for the hall at 7:15. At 8:00 we will be starting the concert. And right now I’m very, very tired. I’m having a very difficult time imagining playing. The thought of picking up an oboe is beyond me. But come 8:00—no, come 7:30—when I warm up (they have a concert [...]
A New Blog (to me, anyway)
I ran across Out West Arts (probably from someone’s link and I’m sorry I can’t tell you whose because I can’t remember!) and I think I’ll enjoy it. The blogger, Brian, is in Los Angeles, but he treks on up here to see things (not in San José, or course, but in San Francisco where [...]
I’m sorry … I just can’t resist!
Now and then, a pork chop eagerly shares a shower with the tuba player living with a customer. A plaintiff completely seeks a polar bear. A movie theater shares a shower with a chestnut. An eggplant gives a pink slip to the tuba player. For example, a single-handledly impromptu bullfrog indicates that a class action [...]
When I’m Busy
If I have a hectic schedule I tend to not look ahead. It’s so difficult for my brain to wrap around one week, much less look forward to the next. This doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s coming up; I’m well aware that the next two weeks will be The King and I, with a [...]
A Quick Post
I thought last night’s Symphony Silicon Valley concert went well. Pam played beautifully in the Bizet and got a well deserved bow. Much to my surprise the conductor had me stand after Pam. It’s true that the slow movement solo gets passed to the second oboe, but it never entered my mind that it would [...]
New
There’s a new classical music blog I’ll be checking out. Now you can too. —–
What I Told Them
In response to my last post … So we went over the oboe’s range. I talked about what is difficult with oboe. Darn low notes. Please don’t have us trill a low B flat to low B! Give really high notes to the flutes, doggone it. (But, “Yes, we can play some high notes and [...]
What To Tell Them
I’m on the UCSC campus right now. My first student (who comes at a very early 8:30) is ill, so I had a bit of time to ready myself for a orchestration class where I’ll be demonstrating the oboe. It’s always an interesting thing .. deciding what to tell them. What I’d love to say [...]